Help us reforesting in Senegal

Damanhur Education APS in collaboration with REDES is looking for support to fight malnutrition in our Sister community Guede Chantier in Senegal by planting 1600 fruit trees in the eco-community this winter.

Our twinsister eco-community Guede Chantier is located in the very north of Senegal,in the Sahel region, close to the Sahara desert. In the past five decades, Guede like all the villages in Senegal River Valley, is affected by desertification due to climate change and also to the economic activities in the region.

As a result of environmental degradation, heat peaks in May, sand storms in August, irregular rainy seasons, mass impoverishment, rural exodus and immigration are the daily realities of most people in the region.

In the Podor Region, there is a severe nutrition problem among vulnerable population, especially among children and pregnant women.

Damanhur Education APS and REDES are planning to support the population of Guede in its fight against environment degradation and community vulnerability by organizing regular reforesting campaigns in and around Guede. The plan foresees to plant 5000 fruit trees in Guede. The first edition is scheduled to take place in February 2018 when a Damanhurian delegation will travel to our twin community in order to plant 1600 trees together.

This is where we need your help. The overall costs for this first edition of the project is
8250 € which covers plants, tools, expenses for the plantation, travel costs and promotion.

Help us reforesting Guede Chantier and fight malnutrition. Even a small contribution is a huge help and much appreciated. You can do so by donating until January 31st via PayPal and by sharing this call to action with your friends.

Guede in itself is an oasis: it is much greener than the surrounding villages: community and family orchards make the place more exuberant than any other in the region. But Guede greenery is at risk: the trees are ageing and negatively impacted by household that use the wood to cook their daily meals. Planting new trees are necessary to replace the old and dying ones, the ones that are cut for cooking and construction purposes.

Since the early seventies, recurrent cylcles of droughts have considerably evaporated the humidity in the region, dried up small rivers and reduced the bed of River Senegal. The forest reserves have shrunk, biodiversity, livestock and wild animals have been decimated to a very large extent.

Irresponsible agricultural policies consisting of clearing forest for cash crops like rice and tomatoes have added another level of environmental degradation and human poverty in the region. As a consequence large forest reserves have been cleared for rice fields.

In addition, because of the development of cash crops agriculture, many farmers are forced to abandon traditional family agriculture.

This environmental and socio economic situation can be reversed if immediate, medium and long term adequate measures and programmes are implemented. This is the vision and the conviction of Guede based community service organization, REDES ( Network for Ecovillage Emergence and Development in the Sahel) (www.sahel-ecovillage.org) and Damanhur Education APS.

Actors: Damanhur Education APS and REDES in collaboration with Ndioum and Podor Forestry services, Women’s associations, Association of Renaissance de Guede Chantier, Association of Eco-guards, University students association and District youth.

The Project: Damanhur Education APS and REDES are planning to support Guede Chantier in fighting against the dramatic effect of desertification.

The Federation of Communities Damanhur is officially twinned with Guede Chantier, Senegal’s first and largest eco-community.

Sites to be reforested:

Sites

1. Women’s permaculture gardens

2. Households,

3. Guede Streets,

4. The Genetic Resource Center

5. REDES headquarters,

6. The Health Center

7. Tivaoune neighbourhood

8. Lahel school

9. REDES demonstration site in Lahel

Trees species and numbers

The aim is to plant 1600 fruit trees. This will commit the community more to look after them. The project will help mobilize the community around the preservation of the environment. It is a medium term strategy to stop wind and soil erosion, provide essential fruits to the community, fight against malnutrition from 2023 onwards at a crucial time when the population growth will add more pressure on the remaining resources.

Moringa trees

350

Mango trees

250

Lemon trees

250

Guava trees

50

Nima trees

150

Flamboyant

150

Cashew

150

Acacia

250

TOTAL

1600

Costs: 8250 €

This includes the plants, iron Plants: Iron cage for tree protection; Plant and cage transportation, Gloves: Participants’ beverage and snacks; T-shirts: Drum animation
Press conference: Phone cards for coordination, Emergency funds, Travel and subsistence expenses for the volunteer members of Aps Dh Education who will, with their expertise in the field of agriculture, assist in the realization of the project.

Help us reforesting Guede Chantier and fight malnutrion. Even a small contribution is a huge help and much appreciated. You can do so by donating via PayPal and by sharing this call to action with your friends.